Zephyr the West Wind

Chaos Chronicles #1

by R.J. Tolson

Seventeen years ago, in the island village of Dentro, lived a large and powerful demon. With just a howl, mountains were obliterated. With the help of an outsider, the chief of Dentro destroyed the demon and sealed its dark power within three powerful ancient weapons: a spear, a shield, and a sword. After leaving the unwelcoming village, the man who had helped destroy the demon took the sword in an effort to keep the village and its people safe. Months later, a villager bore the son of the outsider. Carrying the child of a stranger was in violation of a sacred village law, and everyone knew whose child the boy was. Born into a village filled with hateful people, Zephyr grew up not knowing why he was so hated. With no friends, and eventually no family after the passing of his mother, Zephyr was forced to survive by himself as an outcast. Zephyr's only wish was to make his mother proud and force the village to recognize him--while surviving in a world filled with demons, paranormal abilities, love, hate, and undiscovered lands.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

454 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2011

About the author

RJ Tolson is both an award-winning bestselling author of 4 books and two Manga and an internationally known entrepreneur, having appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC, Telemundo and more by age 19. He's worked with a variety of organizations and brands, ranging from the White House, WeWork, and LA Fashion Week to smaller startups and newly-created brands.

He's toured around the US and Europe to audiences ranging from 900 to a few thousand, speaking to Middle-High schools, Colleges, and Companies about business, reading/writing, innovation, travel, fashion, and more. RJ's helped develop numerous brands and startups and often attends the latest trending events when not on his tours to promote literacy and writing.

Aside from periodically vlogging and guest starring, RJ lives in Los Angeles California, where he is on the board of several organizations, runs his companies, travels for literary tours, and walks his instagram-famous dog and cat, Cloud and Espeon Tolson.

Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Adult Fantasy for all ages!

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Fantasy is like spaghetti sauce, everyone loves it, but it isn’t that often that the ingredients used are to everyone’s liking, no matter the age! Geared toward young teens and YA readers, Zephyr: The West Wind by R.J. Tolson is an invitation to fall into the story and be one of the characters, living and breathing the same air as Zephyr, no matter your age. In a cold and harsh world filled with demons, supernatural gifts, barbaric tests of adulthood, small minds and hearts, one boy struggles to stand tall and do the right thing, in spite of his outcast standing in his village.

Zephyr has only known contempt by his village, all for an accident of birth that he had no control over. Few were kind, most were cruel, yet he chose to act the way he wanted to be treated. Would it be worth it? Survival after the death of his mother was harsh, but he vowed to her to be a good person and to make her proud.

Leaving his village, Zephyr’s journey will take him into a world that recognizes him as the man he is, as he meets friends, allies, mentors and even evil. Will he continue to use his powers against evil? Will he finally earn the respect of his people or will his need to do the right thing and protect the defenseless trump his need for acceptance? In his travels to learn to accept himself and to discover who he really is, he becomes aware of his role in the world, but no man is an island and learning to trust the right people may be a difficult choice when things look bleak. More importantly, he must learn to trust and believe in himself.

R.J. Tolson has mastered storytelling, building a fantasy world that feels both ancient and contemporary by combining age old issues with the magic of make-believe. Youth can be a time when everything seems possible, unless someone is standing on your feet to hold you down. R.J. Tolson gives Zephyr the freedom to shine, grow and still feel the insecurities of being young. Even his budding romance is portrayed from the eyes of youth.
Wonderful writing, brilliant plotting and a harmonic flow make Zephyr’s tale a shining gem for younger readers and adults, alike.

I received this copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Series: Chaos Chronicles - Book 1
Publication Date: August 20, 2012
Publisher: Universal Kingdom Print
Genre: YA Epic Fantasy
Print Length: 456 pages
Available from: Amazon |  Barnes & Noble
Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Nolan Kabrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zephyr The West Wind is a very captivating book. Since the first time I opened the book it seemed to reach out and engulf my mind unlike any other book. The fight scenes are clear and easy to imagine and the concept is amazingly thought out. The writing is simple and easy to read, which makes it more likely that reader will get captivated by its magic. The idea of a person coming from nothing and unloved to become great and loved by all has always been an interesting idea to me. The author did well in conveying this concept. Several times in this book the emotion was relayed to me where i could actually feel what Zephyr was feeling, for example to the point where I was tearing up or getting chills down my spine. As I read other reviews about this book I see the reviewers actually explain part of the book. All I had to go on about this book was the back cover and I as a reader believe that is all this book needs. I didn't go into detail on how Zephyr goes throughout his journey or even what his background story is. This should be left up to the reader to discover by themselves. Also reading other peoples reviews I saw some comments made about how the writing is not up to par with that of a book written for an adult. Well there lies your answer right there. This book was written for a younger audience, 13-17 year old people and not meant to satisfy the literary hunger for a more advance read. This book isn't meant for the reader to have to think when reading but to be able to let their imaginations run free in the world this author has created. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to read and to those of you who like a good story. I am desperately awaiting the next installment in this series.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Adult Fantasy for all ages!

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[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review can also be found on my blog acascadeofbooks.blogspot.com

Rating: 2.5/5

I received an ebook copy of this novel in return for an honest review.
This book promised a lot, the front cover and the blurb suggested a great fantasy novel with hints of greek mythology, but the novel didn't deliver.
The writing style frustrated me as the novel would change from Zephyr's point of view to Leon's with no prior warning. I found myself reading into a chapter before I realised that the point of view had changed. I also found that the writing didn't flow very well, it felt jumpy. The narration of the novel also changes, it begins with Zephyr addressing the reader, then it changes to him narrating what has happened, with occasional chapters from Leon. However the author's descriptions of people and places were good. He also wrote some really good fight/action scenes throughout the novel, they were fast paced and held my attention nicely.
There was a romantic relationship that ran through this novel, between Zephry and Autumn, but to me it felt unnecessary, and didn't really add anything to the plot or the characters.
The main character in this novel is Zephyr, and as with the other characters I didn't feel particularly attached to him. Leon is another main character in this novel, and again he felt a little one dimensional, and I didn't really have any feelings towards him. He belonged to the "dark-side" and was a contrast to Zephyr who belongs to the "good-side". This felt a little cliched and predictable, that the characters were labelled in such a way.
Zephyr believed in gaining power to protect the people he loved, and he appeared to have good morals, but he left the tour guide unconscious at the castle. This didn't seem to fit with his character at all. Also the fact that this same tour guide came back as some evil nemesis seemed strange.
Zephyr started having visions of Autumn as she was coming to join them, and I thought this was interesting, I hoped it would add a twist to the novel, but these visions weren't mentioned again.
Overall I didn't really enjoy this novel, and I probably won't continue the series.

[Maria Stoica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my Readers' Favorite review - https://readersfavorite.com/book-revi...

Zephyr the West Wind by R.J. Tolson is the first book in the young adult fantasy series, Chaos Chronicles. Zephyr has the gift of understanding other people’s emotions, but he never managed to understand its use while growing up alone, isolated and hated by the other villagers on the small island of Dentro. Years ago, his mother had broken the village law by having a child with an outsider. Zephyr’s father had disappeared before his birth and his mother had died when he was young so the entire village's rage and disgust for his parents was aimed at Zephyr. Only the old village chief had the kindness to look after him. Now at seventeen years of age, Zephyr is ready to take his Trial of Adulthood which will get him off the island towards new lands in the world of Tye and, hopefully, towards some friendship. That is, if he survives it. The first and foremost task is to be selected by one of the five crystals: Sea, Ouranos, Void, Balance, or Dream which unlocks unknown powers within each individual.

The book is written in first person, following Zephyr’s perspective although there are a couple of chapters later on, written from another character’s perspective, also in first person. In the world of Tye, the king or chief is the strongest warrior of the people he is leading. Despite this apparently violent culture, there are those who do not think that brute force is the key to solving every conflict and they offer a moral balance over the entertaining and clean fighting scenes. R.J. has done an awesome job in creating a vivid world with amazing artifacts, giant lizard carriages, and flavored energy crystals which awaken one’s aura in different ways, thus enabling anime-like effects during fights. The plot twists are the best parts alongside the discovery of Zephyr’s powers, identity, and the use of his gift. There are bits of wisdom and introspection here and there which give depth to all the struggle and pain. I recommend Zephyr the West Wind to both young adults and adults since it is a great journey of self discovery in an exciting world.

[Harmonysarah Emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just from reading some of the reviews on here you either get the picture that this book is a mediocre novel or one of the best books that the reader will ever read, and that it is intriguing, wonderful and complete. I must say that I fall into the it is the most wonderful book ever category. Although it hasn’t been stated what audience RJ Tolson wrote the book for, it seems to fit children and teenangers, not adults who are going to pick apart with every little mistake and find everything that is bad with it. I am not going to tell the story because if you haven’t read the book, or haven’t looked it up, you should because you are missing out. I think that some of the reviews posted so far, the negative ones by older adults, are trashing this book because although they they read the book from their own perspective, at the same time once they decide it is for a different audience they try and wrap their minds around what that audience would think while judging it. The problem with that is they don’t realize they only think they are thinking from the perspective of whom they think the book is for, not actually doing it. Zephyr is a young 17-year old boy who is discovering the world and people around him, and although he is very naive, passionate, and innocent, which is both cute and admirable, he makes mistakes (those who read the book know this from the one time his character may stray from the usual). This is a truly great book that many children and adults will like, and be inspired by. I have recommended this book to all my friends and family, and they have all loved it. Another great thing is that even though his writing is great and descriptive, it will only improve with his next works.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an avid fan of the Fantasy genre, I was excited to dive into Zephyr: The West Wind. There is nothing I love more than immersing myself in a new world and meeting the characters who live there. We meet Zephyr, a boy who has been treated as an outcast since his birth. All his hopes lie in making a place for himself in the village and redeeming his family name.

I liked Zephyr as a character. He was proud, strong, and unwilling to give up despite ridicule. That's why I was saddened that I wasn't given more of a chance to know him. While it was nice to see a slow unveiling of his background, I still felt less attached to him than I would have liked. R.J. Tolson populates his world with many characters. The downside is that some of them aren't as fleshed out as they could be.

On the other hand, the world itself is gorgeously rendered and easy to become immersed in. Tolson has mastered the art of descriptive writing, and it is easy to conjure an image of what Zephyr and his companions see. It was easy for me to transport myself to the vivid landscapes that they wandered through. I think my favorite part of reading Zephyr: The West Wind was the opportunity to visit a new world.

In terms of story line, I honestly feel it could have been slightly shorter. Fantasy books are known to be rather lengthy, but I admit that there were parts that felt very slow. Despite any issues I might have had though, I ultimately enjoyed my time spent with Zephyr: The West Wind. I see great things coming down the road from R.J. Tolson. With a little more polish, I truly believe that he has the potential to weave even more magic for his readers.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I was given this book for an honest review*
Zephyr, for me, is a mix between Percy Jackson and The Giver. I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. The world build was amazing. It were very descriptive and well written. The events were described clearly and overall it was a really entertaining book. There is a lot of action and it is fast paced.I think this book would especially appeal to boys 10-16ish. It is definitely a coming of age story within the fantasy genre. There were a few quirks like Zephyr always "laughing out loud" or "chuckling" but I think those were intentional to show his personality. I think I would love more dialogue and character interaction in the coming books however this was a fabulous beginning to the series.

[Chris Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read! Not only does it have a great storyline but it is a very well structured book with a good layout. The style incorporated in the book really helps connect with the reader as the language is easy to interpret for the target audience. I'm not going to give examples because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It's a really inspirational book for young people (mainly teenagers) as at some stage everyone has been discouraged or felt abandoned and this book shows that no matter what your circumstances good or bad you can always achieve greatness. Greatly awaiting the next book in the series.

[Cybrak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found "Zephyr the West Wind" to be an extremely enjoyable novel. The main characters were well realized and the story had a fantastic pace. I will certainly be reading R.J. Tolson's future work.

My full review can be found at awkardreview.com

[Ellie Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was amazed to discover, having finished this book, that author R. J. Tolson is just eighteen years of age. Zephyr’s story is a complex one, one of loss, vengeance, greed, and ancestry. It is a true credit to the author.

Having finally completed his three trials into adulthood, seventeen year old Zephyr is sent on a special quest, which leads him to discover new friends and foes. R. J. Tolson’s first person narrative is friendly and holds a personal tone, as if Zephyr were confiding in the reader like a friend or journal, holding nothing back. Their style is descriptive, yet does not waste words.

I enjoyed the plot and found it fast-moving, with plenty of twists and turns, in addition to deadly secrets. The characters were well-rounded and for the most part, likeable. We see Zephyr develop from a shy young outcast, into a strong and courageous young warrior that will stop at nothing to save what he holds dear.

What I liked most about Zephyr’s story was the imagination behind the complex magical system. I found myself willing magic to be real once more as I did back in my childhood. The principles and inner-workings of the magic were easy to understand and beautifully described.
I was also particularly taken with the idea of a soul mirror, a paradise where a few hours in real time can be weeks within the mind.

As far as dislikes, I had but one. I hated Leon’s character from the start and never grew to like him.

Overall, this was a thrilling tale by a talented young author. I would recommend this to any book lover, no matter what your preferred genre.

I rate this novel 5 stars.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

THANKS TO: Samantha Lien from JKSCommunications for providing me an electronic ARC to review honestly.

I think this book started out very strongly. I was entranced by the prologue with its promises of ancient Greek mythologies and was very, very excited to devour this book. However, that was just it - the prologue was full of promises that Tolson did not deliver. What I did like about the book was that Zephyr is a good role model for children reading his story. His strong afflictions towards being the best person he could possibly be, even to people that had treated him like trash, was a message that put a smile on my face. I think Tolson created a character that was strong in this sense. This was the one consistent trait of Zephyr's that I liked, because there were SO many inconsistencies riddled throughout the book.

The biggest problem I found with Zephyr's character was when he said he wanted to gain power to protect the people he loved. These were people that he'd only met recently. While that could be overlooked, I couldn't read about him leaving his boy tour guide unconscious within the palace that he was touring while he ran away from a fight that he'd started. At that point I was like, 'Really? You left him unconscious and you're just going to leave?'
There were many other inconsistencies that I couldn't bring myself to overlook. On his quest to recover the ancient weapons in order to save his village, Zephyr had to visit two cities that were at war with each other. They were called Cheshria and Sleeves. At Cheshria, the guards manning the gate didn't even bother to check the carriages that held Zephyr and his companion, Leon, and let them through into the city without a second thought. The driver of the carriage was a friend of Zephyr's and had told the guards that the carriages held his servants. I found it hard to believe that the guards would not bother to check the carriages at all, or question as to why servants are riding in the carriage while their master drove it.

What irritated me more than these inconsistencies was the way this story was written. At the beginning of the story, Zephyr narrates the story as if he's addressing the reader. Thankfully this doesn't last long because I really dislike novels that are narrated like that. Moving from that, Zephyr then continues to narrate the story by repeating things the readers have already learned by voicing them aloud as if we were stupid. And as if that wasn't irritating enough, the story suddenly switches to Leon's perspective suddenly and without warning for a few chapters near the end. Not only was that change in perspective abrupt, it just totally ridiculous because Tolson does not tell that audience that it's Leon's perspective, you have to figure it out yourself. When this first happened, I had gone halfway through the chapter before I stopped in my tracks and was like, 'Wait...this cannot possibly be Zephyr narrating this...what's going on?!'
And please don't get me started on the 'love' story. Was it really necessary? Because it was just so cringe-worthy reading through it. While I do think Zephyr and his love interest, Autumn, are good people, I really couldn't root for them. From the beginning, Zephyr turns into a blubbering idiot when he meets her. And from then on, she's The One. Yeah, ok. And don't even get me started on how he manages to have visions of her sneaking away from her village in order to come find him and help. That is not even explained. Was he thinking about her so much that he just suddenly have these visions in his sleep that actually turn out to be true?

While you may think I hated this book, it wasn't horrendous. I really enjoyed the fight scenes and they were exciting to read about. Especially the ones at the end when they really felt genuine and you couldn't tell that Zephyr was definitely going to win. However, this was a book that I did have to force myself to finish - and that is never a good thing. I will probably be giving the next one in the series a miss.

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For more reviews, visit thoughtsbyj!

[Raven Gracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this and other reviews at my blog.

Being the child of an outsider, Zephyr's very existence is a constant reminder that his mother disobeyed the rules of their village by loving his father. Growing up not really understanding why his village hated him so, Zephyr was determined to show his village he was worthy of their praise. After failing to pass the ceremony that would label him as an adult in the eyes of his people, Zephyr is given one last chance. He passes his ceremony and is given a task to hunt down three objects of power that will benefit his village. Setting out with his companion, Leon, Zephyr hopes to become powerful so he can make a name for himself.

This story starts out with Zephyr narrating things, something I am rather not fond of, but luckily, it doesn't stick. What threw me the most, was that the story, the cover, everything about this book made me think is was aimed at middle school kids. I was expecting a 10-15 age range, but I got what felt like a 7-13 age range instead. A good book should entertain you, so that you don't even notice that by reading you are getting smarter. This book I saw the education more than I saw the entertainment. The writing is so polished that it is unrelatable. It's great that the author is showing himself to be a great example for kids in proper sentence structure, but it was at the cost of charm and passion. Because of it, the whole story felt rather flimsy and flat to me. I also hated how it had "tv show syndrome." "Tv show syndrome" is how every new episode has to go into an overly descriptive recap of the episode before it. This book does the same things, recapping every previous chapter in one of the most annoying ways possible (think Pokémon). There was also A LOT of telling going on. Things would be repeated and thought out when they were obvious. The description would let the readers know that the characters just learned something, just for a character (usually Zephyr) to reiterate it right afterwards. It made the writing seem like it was dumbing itself down even more for an audience that doesn't need it. The writing alone felt like an insult. I'm sure a kid would feel the same. I can imagine giving this book to my 12 year old cousin just for him to laugh at the writing as ask for something harder. I think his 7 year old sister would feel the same way.

The characters weren't that bad. Leon was incredibly predictable. The foreshadowing for him was not even close to subtle. Autumn was a rather unimpressive character, and I honestly couldn't root for her and Zephyr. Their "love" was sudden and flat. Zephyr was a bit dense, and his ambitions were questionable to me. They were just unrealistic. I do think he was a good role model though. His ability to see good in people and to want to do good was a really nice thing for children to see and learn from.

The plot wasn't bad. It would've been more entertaining with better writing, but as a plot goes, I actually rather enjoyed it. It felt like The Last Airbender meets Dragonball, which will appeal to a lot of young kids. There were a lot of inconsistencies. I can understand they might be tackled in a later book in the series, but when you are writing for kids, you can't do that. You have to wrap up and answer all questions before you get to the end where you begin the conflict for the next book. There were quite a few inconsistencies that needed taken care of. A big one would be why Zephyr was able to see Autumn in his dreams.

All in all, this was a good book. While I think it needed to be written more with it's audience in mind instead of under estimating their intelligence, the plot was good and the story was entertaining. This is one of those that you should feel confident giving to your 7-13 year old to read.

[Change211 · Rating 3 out of 5]

RJ Tolson delivered a beautiful fantasy book that’s easy to imagine about, Zephyr was underrated. I think this deserve more attention from readers out there. It’s appealing and captivating, it didn’t bore me out. From the beginning of the book, as I started reading, it hooked me right away.

I’ve loved reading Zephyr although it gives me that Naruto feels. To be honest, as I read all throughout it’s more like I’m getting back to the world of Naruto. There are differences, but the similarities in both were noticeable. I’m not saying, the author copied it or he doesn’t have any originality, all I’m saying is it does give me that vibe, the ‘Naruto vibe’. Zephyr: West Wind Chronicles was like the detailed Naruto version. I won’t go down in the details more.

The action scene or I’ll say the fight scenes are easy to catch up since; it was simply written and greatly detailed. It won’t give you a hard time imagining what the characters look like during that part. For the characters, Zephyr is easy to be liked though I was a little ‘meh’ when he said his reason for his want to get stronger is to protect the people he cared; I was like ‘what? You want to protect the people you barely know of? Are you trying to be a hero?’ — But I think his alter ego or Sora got me more.On the other hand, Leon, I don’t quite follow him. He’s vicious and I don’t like people like that who’s willing to give up a friendship for vengeance especially if that friend of yours saved your life. How can you just throw that away? I know his hatred is eating him, still.

Anyways, if you want to know what I’m talking about then why not try reading the book? I swear it won’t fail you.

*I won a kindle copy of this book from the author’s promotional giveaway, but that didn’t affect my view about this book.*

-I loved it, yes but I can't give it a five star for some instances are really so familiar to me it became so cliche.

Zephyr-Naruto, an orphan that's treated coldly in their village. Leon-Sasuke, a young boy who's fighting a darkness inside him, hated his brother who killed his parents and their whole clan. And so on.

[Kila · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a woman, I didn't think that the story would really appeal to me as much when I saw the cover. That thought dwindled a bit when I read the back, but it definitely disappeared by the first chapter (maybe even the 2nd paragraph). I know in some review I saw it was mentioned that the book looks like it is for middle schoolers, because of the cover makes it look soo. Really?? The cover has a guy who looks a lot older and mature than 15, might I add with some sexiness attached, so I don't really see that.

I LOVE the author's "author note", its beautiful, inspiring, and lovable! The "letter" before the chapter began didn't really mean anything to me until I finished the story and read it again, at which point made me cry! (I'm a corny girl, what can I say). I like how the author starts out with a strong pace for the story, and you instantly get a feel for Zephyr and the world he has had to grow up in.

A fan of the author, I saw a tv interview where he discussed that loneliness is something we can probably all connect to from some point our lives. I agree! and Zephyr portrays it so well, along with an inspiring will that i found so amazing! To wrap up as I could go on forever, I thought the writing itself was excellent and written beautifully, the story was powerful and interesting, and Zephyr, along with the rest of the cast, were cute and lovable!

Zephyr is a story I will be able to read again and again, which I will until the next one comes out! Can't Wait!

[Tracy M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved how I as a reader was immersed in this world of vivid imagination, however I felt like this story could have shorter. It's not that I lost interest just that I felt some of it was filler in a way. I'll recommend this to fantasy readers!